The 1974 season

Typhoon Irma (1974)

Typhoon Irma reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between November 20, 1974 and December 3, 1974, with a lowest pressure of 940 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Irma, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1974 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
November 20, 1974 to December 3, 1974
Peak strength
Category 4, 115 kt (132 mph)
Lowest pressure
940 mb (27.76 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
24.1
Identifier
WP331974

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Nov 20, 00:008.2N 145.7E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 20, 06:008.1N 145.0E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 20, 12:008.1N 144.3E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 20, 18:008.4N 143.6E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 21, 00:008.8N 142.8E25 ktTropical storm
Nov 21, 06:009.2N 142.2E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 12:009.7N 141.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 21, 18:0010.3N 141.0E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 00:0010.8N 140.5E30 kt998 mbMixed
Nov 22, 06:0011.1N 140.4E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 12:0011.3N 140.2E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 22, 18:0011.6N 140.0E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 00:0011.9N 139.5E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 06:0012.4N 138.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 12:0012.9N 138.1E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 23, 18:0013.4N 137.2E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 00:0013.7N 136.2E70 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 06:0014.1N 135.3E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 12:0014.5N 134.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Nov 24, 18:0014.7N 133.7E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 00:0015.0N 133.3E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 06:0015.2N 132.8E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 12:0015.5N 132.3E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 25, 18:0015.7N 131.7E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 00:0015.7N 130.8E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 06:0015.7N 129.8E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 12:0015.7N 128.7E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 26, 18:0015.7N 127.6E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 00:0015.7N 126.4E115 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 06:0015.7N 125.3E110 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 12:0015.6N 124.3E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 27, 18:0015.6N 123.1E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 00:0015.4N 121.9E90 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 06:0015.2N 120.6E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 12:0015.1N 119.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 28, 18:0015.2N 118.5E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 00:0015.5N 117.5E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 06:0015.7N 116.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 12:0015.8N 115.4E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 29, 18:0015.9N 114.4E65 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 00:0016.2N 113.4E70 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 06:0016.6N 112.7E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 12:0017.1N 112.3E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Nov 30, 18:0017.8N 112.1E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 00:0018.6N 111.9E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 06:0019.4N 111.8E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 12:0020.2N 111.9E55 kt990 mbTropical storm
Dec 1, 18:0020.9N 112.4E50 kt995 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 00:0021.6N 113.1E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 06:0022.5N 113.7E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 12:0023.0N 114.5E25 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Dec 2, 18:0023.3N 115.0E20 kt1008 mbMixed
Dec 3, 00:0023.5N 116.0E20 kt1010 mbMixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 1974

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.